Archive for September, 2011

So, you think you are living reasonably frugal, and then your husband loses his job. You assume everything will be alright because he will at least receive unemployment. He worked for a university out of state. The university is in Missouri, he recruited for them online, remotely, from our home in SC. You wonder and worry about how you’ll live on a little more than 1/2 what he had been earning. And then the state of SC finds a loophole to NOT PAY HIM ANY unemployment: Any company with fewer than 4 employees working for it in the state of SC disqualifies that company from paying unemployment. Purpose of the law: Protect small businesses with fewer than 4 total employees. Your husband’s employer: a University with hundreds of employees, which, under new management, decided to end the jobs of all recruiters working “remotely”. Though the job is totally done ONLINE, and no personal in-person interviews are held, and students are located literally worldwide for this educational program, some lunk-brain decides to end all remote employees.

Your husband appeals numerous times (to the limit) and even calls on a state legislator for assistance, who is unable to change the outcome. You do not deserve any unemployment benefits from the state of South Carolina.

So now you’re wondering how to exist on -0- of his former income. Your income, meanwhile is not enough to pay your bills. Or so you think. And so, you begin slashing.

And here is how you are able to get by:

$85.00 for groceries per week, zero money budgeted for eating out, and 3 tanks of gas every 2 weeks, which is really not enough. You live in a rural state 22 mi. from your place of employment and 15-20 miles from anything else. When you run out of gas money, you don’t go anywhere, being very careful to save enough to get to work.

No TV. You already live w/ reduced channels so now you just wait for it to be shut off.

Keep the Internet because we need it for applying and looking for another job for your hubby. The Internet actually offers some TV — CNN news and many other shows are available.

Air conditioning temp. is always on 76 or above.

School loans are put into one year of forebearance. You will worry about them in the future. They will always be a part of the rest of your natural born days anyway.

One loan payment is reduced in half due to “hardship” which takes about 3 weeks to get done.

Close bank account to avoid automatic payments you can no longer afford.

Bring your lunch to work or eat popcorn until you get home.

Go to the caf for free coffee.

Your son takes over the vehicle payment for the vehicle he is driving already.

Shut off one cell phone and use your office phone. NO INSTANT ACCESS!! Hardest part about it: You no longer have a “clock” to know what time to end class (until you get used to checking it on your laptop).

Pay credit cards what you can afford: Not what they ask you for.

Your husband has no health insurance. (Not a good thing.)

Cancel life insurance you carried on each grandchild.

Switch to Geico.

Avoid all stores because there is always something on sale you could use, but you don’t *need* at this moment.

Become good at really cheap, home cooked meals & be able to make them quickly. Make homemade blueberry pancakes or muffins for a real treat. Occasionally, buy yourself a luxurious candy bar.

All of this is painful and what you keep thinking about are those politicians and CEOs not creating jobs, making it difficult for those at the lower levels to enjoy life and to even survive, and how many millions are out there suffering even more than you are. The world is insane, barbaric, greedy, and topsy turvy.

Above all, Love God and count on His never-failing, absolute, all encompassing blessings in your life. You are Rich in so many ways others only dream of.

“Noble have I created thee, yet thou hast abased thyself. Rise, then, unto that for which thou were created.”

“Close one eye and open the other. Close one to the world and all that is therein. Open the other to the hallowed Beauty of the Beloved.”

Lochnaw Castle is in Scotland, was visited by my dad and many years later, my daughter and son. It is now privately owned and delapidated. If I win the lottery, perhaps we can buy it. At any rate, the Agnews traditionally were sheriffs in Lochnaw. They somehow were associated with being caretakers of this Lochnaw Castle. When my father visited it in the mid-1960s, they treated him like royalty and a lost brother from America. Well it turns out, he probably was. I have been working on family history for years now, steadily for about 2 years. THERE IS MUCH TO CHECK OUT slowly over time here, but perhaps this is our FAMILY LINE! I am so excited about this and hope I can slowly find records to validate all of this. It puts us in ULSTER, IRELAND and prior to that, LOCHNAW:

(Either the birthplace is wrong for this James above— or his father left Ireland before 1717. I’m leaning toward that he was actually born in Ireland and left Ireland with his father in 1717, because the record says a JAMES AGNEW left IRELAND with a SON, JAMES in 1717)

THIS IS AN AWESOME RECORD SAYING WE WERE SHERIFFS OF GALLOWAY AND OWNED LAND IN PA.:

1711 Born to James Agnew and Helena Jamieson of Locknaw, Wigtownshire, Scotland

Emigrated to Pennsylvania from Ireland. Arrived in Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania after 1739. James Agnew II in America brought a large plantation of more than 500 acreas at March Creek, then a district in Lancaster County, later called York County, Now Adams County. It was on a Run called Lick Run which flows into Marsh Creek.

1753 served in the Military as Company Commander of the First Rank

1756 Captain of York County Associators for defense against the Indians.

10/2/1770 Died at Hamilton Ban, York, Pennsylvania.

Buried “under a large, flat stone, upon which were cut the “Arms” of the Agnews of Locknaw, Hereditary Sheriffs of Galloway.

HERE IS MORE, I AM BLOWN AWAY: This is a close-up of the coat of arms of the Agnews of Lochnaw, Scotland, from whom James descended. The history of the family is recorded in “The Book of the Agnews: James Agnew of Pennsylvania” by Mary V. Agnew and is also found in one or more of the Burke’s peerage books of Great Britain. Before James’s family lived in Ireland, they were hereditary sheriffs of Galloway, Scotland, and James’s 8th-great-grandparents were Andrew Agnew of Lochnaw and Mary Kennedy, Mary being a granddaughter of King Robert III of Scotland, who in turn was the son of Robert II, who was a grandson of Robert I, famously known as Robert the Bruce.

NOW, if this is our James, this James (above) lived with wife MARY in OHIO and in 1850 they had a son also named JAMES who is MY great-grandfather JAMES, b.1841 in Ohio, who ends up in New Albany, Indiana. There are other stories to explore and mysteries to solve. James C. may or may not be our James, father of my great-grandfather James. His wife, Mary, in 1850 is not old enough to be our James’ mother. So who was his mother? The elder James in 1850 says he was born in PA., and there is an elder Samuel living with them.

Now, there is a ton of information to check & look into in this entire LINE, which is what I’ll be working on when I have time. This is very exciting & I hope it all checks out. There are some records that are confused, so it will take time.